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Monthly Archives: May 2012

Mr. Goman, a former NGC Team Advisor who now mentors another NGC Team at Tolleson Union High School and University High School, Tolleson, encouraged me (Noemi) to watch the documentary film on human trafficking titled “Not My Life.”

He said that I might cry by the end. I actually had a knot in my throat. A survivor who was kidnapped and brought into a resistance army in Sudan and handed a gun and coerced into killing others who managed to escape now asks why these things happen; why can these things go on?

Shockingly, I learned about human trafficking (Sex trafficking) and how the U.S. is one of the many perpetrators.

We see women at night in poorer cities and dismiss them as if it’s their choice, but as the film explained, “Self-exploitation is making a choice out of many lousy options.”

Throughout the film, I saw many tragedies and horror stories outlined that NGC tries to provide tools to end the plight.

One of the most beautiful things I saw in the film was that people and communities who once had no hope cultivated it and started to educate themselves about a life they never before had — a life with an education and a life where their children would be safe!

This year, I have received the most fortunate opportunity to mentor you all. It is with great pleasure that I say that I have heard great stories of success, and I am so glad that each of you has taken the time to inform me and keep up-to-date on the great things of the efforts to end the world’s pressing issues.

With inspiration from a dearest friend and current Team Mentor, Steffany Arzate, I have provided an end of the year newsletter below with three parts to it: 1) What’s Happening Across the World, 2) What Other Teams Have Been Up To, 3) Strategies to Advance Team: This Year & Next Year, and 4) Important Reminders To Wrap Up the Year.

What’s Happening Across the World –

North America –

Despite the notoriety of the U.S./Mexico Border, recently a story of hope came about through fashion. Just as young people in the U.S. turn to art as a channel to voice their opinions, young people affected by the violent cities that make up the surrounding areas of the U.S./Mexico have found a positive way through fashion design. Zabludovsky, New York Times Reporter, describes the efforts as a demonstration of young people conveying that Ciudad Juarez “is as much about hemlines as homicides.” Fashion and pop culture influences our generation daily, so why not support one of New Global Citizens project, DouglaPrieta Trabajan located off the U.S. border with Mexico by calling all students and community members to put forth a fashion show to not only help raise funds for this project, but as well, to help local designers get a kickstart on their dream or to provide an outlet for local teens or community members to place their energy on a creative and innovative project! It’s possible for teams to support more than just one project, but of course, it’s best to focus on just one. However, it’s no big deal if the team wants to put ONE event together out of the many to spur support for a much needed community located right in our country. To read more about the influences that fashion has on Mexico, please visit “Silvers of Hope Amid the Melancholy in a Mexican Border Town” found in the New York Times.

Education plays such a big role in dissolving the pressing issues across the world; it’s one of the faucets that provide a foundation for sustainable effects to follow. In America, it also plays a big role for a positive and successful future. In the past years, we have read and learned about The Dream Act, Waiting for Superman, among others. But one of the issues that isn’t covered enough is the education of homeless children and adolescents, as well as the education of children and adolescents who fall under state’s jurisdiction after their parents have been convicted for any given crime. A reporter for the New York Times highlights how a boys’ and girls’ basketball team in Tennessee who make up a school operated by the Carroll County Juvenile Court aren’t bad children because their parents fell through cracks (to read the article click here) and are worthy of the same experiences and opportunities as any other child. Even so, Schools On Wheels – one of NGC’s partners that is supported by Seton Catholic High School – functions to increase educational opportunities Los Angeles’ homeless children. In LA alone there are about 25,000 homeless kids who are enrolled in LA’s Unified District, who struggle immensely to continue their education. Ellen DeGeneres also featured a school in Las Vegas and a Pennsylvania school whose purpose is to serve children in poor districts; the teachers here use their own money to supply the students with the basic tools to be able to learn. Here’s a post by Washington Post on Ellen’s methods.

Central American & the Caribbean –

The following is an excerpt from a New Times article that showcases how women, in contrast to the U.S., have been stepping up in the political sphere:

“The Latin America-Caribbean region, once a caldron of machismo and gender inequality, has jumped ahead on women’s advancement with more female heads of state and heads of government — five – than any other area globally and a higher percentage of female members of parliament ( 25.5. percent) than any region except Nordic Europe, according to the 2012 Women in Politics survey of the agency U.N. Women and the Inter-Parliamentary Union.”

“Female leaders are no novelty in the region. But now, at the same time, there Dilma Rousseff of Brazil and Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica, both first-time presidents; Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina in her second term; and Kamla Persad-Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago and Portia Simpson-Miller of Jamaica, the first female prime ministers of their island nations. And in Mexico this election season, Josefina Vazquez Mota, an economist, is the first woman to run for president under a major-party banner.”

Brazil, one of the largest countries in Brazil, is also largely made up by poverty and people living in Rio de Jaineros which is made up of favelas or slums. With the decision for the 2016 Olympics Games to be celebrated and the FIFA Soccer Games to take place in that area of Brazil, these very same people who make up the favelas have been resistant in the process, encouraging the world to recognize not only Brazil’s gap between their middle class and poor but showcasing the intensities of the favelas (to read an article about the resistance, click here). Tolleson Union High School in conjunction with University High, Tolleson, are supporting Shelter of Friendship Association in Brazil, which functions to provide aid to youth (ages 12 – 24) who are living among the streets and have a dramatically high possibility of engaging in destructive behavior. The organization provides housing and counseling among others.

Women in Latin America are mostly subjected to strict societal norms like many other cultures across the world; however, in Brazil, women make up part of an industry that has been primarily male-dominated for the past century: the oil industry. To read a full article on this subject, please click here.

Middle East –

Currently, Israel and Palestine find themselves in conflict with each other because Palestine longs to be recognized as its own country, separate of Israel. Conflict is no novelty in this area of the Middle East. After the War of 1948, Aida Camp was established where Palestinians were deported to. 5000 Palestinians from different villages make up Aida Camp, with a substantial unemployment rate of 70%, where 66% are 18-year-olds or younger people. NGC’s AL-ROWWAD Theater creates recreational activities for the youth of this desolate area that lacks parks, green places and playgrounds.

Africa –

Sudan’s President is still one of the most wanted people of the world – I learned this in an Intro class to Global Studies. Sudan has gone through a Civil War, and currently, the animosity and ideological war between Christians and Muslims perils the country. Even so, Ethiopian women face the brutal subjugation to female mutilation, read this in Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.

As two of the teams I’m mentoring are supporting House of Hope, I decided to focus on Uganda where AIDS/HIV affects the lives of many adults and children. However, AIDS/HIV isn’t just isolated to Africa, but its effects are seen throughout the world, including the U.S., where the healthcare system is, to say the least, not adequate. In contrast, Cuba now has free universal healthcare and has the world’s smallest epidemics (to read an article on AIDS in Cuba, click here). But in Uganda, where no healthcare system prevails and a lack of education exists, AIDS/HIV claims thousands of lives. House of Hope cares for orphaned children whose parents died of AIDS, providing education, nutrition, clean water, among other necessities. If your team or your team already supports this project, a fun community education/fundraising event would be to invite elementary school children of pre-school to 2nd grade to be read to by high school students, and provide educational aspects to the event for teachers and parents!

**There are many challenges across the world, and the information I provided is in no way exhausted! Keep yourself up-to-date on the region that your project supports to be better equipped to be an agent of change!

What Other Teams Have Been Up To –

Poetry Nights, Making NGC T-Shirts, “Medicinal Receipts” Fundraiser, Fundraising through local restaurants, creating educational videos and broadcasting them to the school, selling dirty water, Movie/Doc Night: These are the few things that many teams across the states are doing to spread awareness on their specific projects!

If you or your team is interested in details on one of these events, or need help coming up with ideas for events, don’t hesitate to email me (I would love to speak over phone or Skype…but I sincerely believe I am better writing down my thoughts to fully explain myself)!

Strategies to Advance Team: This Year & Next Year –

Is your team planning on continuing in the next school year? Then market the team now!

The team can market itself by having an end of the year meeting and inviting everyone in the school and/or in the community for an NGC Educational Meetings and re-introducing and re-launching NGC! Have a sign-up list for all who come and ask them to provide their email address, so a team leader can email everyone as a reminder the following year about upcoming meetings!

Set up a day during lunch or during any time of the day if you’re a college team and have people sign up for emails and hand out SIMPLE, yet INFORMATIVE flyers! *Simplicity is key when trying to maintain the interest

Have flyers across campus calling students and faculty to join the movement and create “pull-outs” on the flyers with the appropriate email address for the team and the appropriate FaceBook address!

Have an end of the year event, and remind students what NGC is about and spur them to join the movement!

Important Reminders to Wrap Up the Year –

*I send the following as part of my latest email, but here it is again!

**I’ve attached a separate PDF of NGC Certificates to recognize team members!!

***It’s the end of the year, loosen up and throw a celebration event commemorating the team’s efforts: the team can celebrate by having a Pot Luck, a Soccer Game, a Movie Night, et cetera…BUT, make sure to take photos and email them to me, so I can share them on the NGC OFFICIAL BLOG!

END OF YEAR INFORMATION

COMPLETE & SEND IN YOUR END OF YEAR REPORT

Either download the END OF YEAR REPORT and mail to NGC or complete the report online. All teams are required to complete the END OF YEAR REPORT by June 15th.

For more tips on how to wrap up the year, check out the End of Year Wrap Up page on the NGC website.

SEND IN YOUR TEAM FUNDS, DUE JUNE 15th Make all checks out to New Global Citizens Send all checks to NGC at: